Device for use when bleeding suspended slaughtered animal has suspended cradle with housings and locking mechanism to secure each foreleg in cradle and lifting mechanism to raise cradle

摘要

A device for holding the front forelegs of a suspended animal has a suspended cradle with two housings for the forelegs and a locking mechanism to hold each foreleg in the housing. A lifting mechanism raises the cradle when the forelegs are secured in the cradle. Independent claims are included for the following: (a) Bleeding an animal includes suspending the animal by a rear leg, placing the front forelegs in the above holding device, simultaneously locking the forelegs in the device, operating the lifting mechanism and then bleeding the animal. (b) The above device where the locking mechanism is two pneumatic actuators. The opposite ends of each actuator have pivot connections to the cradle and a locking bar pivoted on the cradle. The lifting mechanism is a pneumatic actuator operating on a cable via a compensating device. The actuators are linked back to a control unit mounted on the cradle.